Copper rich alloys



y 1, 1966 J. H. CAIRNS 3,253,911

COPPER RICH ALLOYS Filed Nov. 2, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

ELONGATION IOO ALLOY 2 ALLOY TEMPERATURE c I72 venior 51171. H. Ca rns y 1966 J. H. CAIRNS 3,253,911

COPPER RICH ALLOYS Filed Nov. 2, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2.

E LONGATIO'N IOO ALLOY 2 TEMPERATURE c In Vania/- lmz H. Cczz rns United States Patent 3,253,911 COPPER RICH ALLOYS John H. Cairns, Stourton, near Leeds, England, assignor to Yorkshire Imperial Metals Limited, Stourton, England, a company of Great Britain Filed Nov. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 408,169 Claims priority, application Great Britain, May 3, 1962, 16,973/ 62; Nov. 29, 1962, 45,143/ 62 Claims. (Cl. 75159) This application is a continuation-impart of my prior United States application Serial No. 276,375, which is now abandoned.

This invent-ion relates to copper rich alloys such as aluminium bronze, aluminium brass, copper nickel and copper zinc, which have compositions within the copper rich alphaphase range. They may contain two or more major alloying elements and small amounts of other ele ments, such as iron, manganese, arsenic, to confer special properties.

Alloys of the general types described above are widely used for many applications. They have good workability at normal temperatures, although great stress is required to achieve a given amount of strain in view of their high strength. At higher temperatures the strength, and therefore the stress required to produce a given strain, are much lower but there is a hot short range which varies with different alloys, but in the case of copper nickel may range from about 500 to 900 C., in which there is a substantial drop in the ductility or elongation of the alloys. Because of this hot shortness it is necessary to limit the amount of working of the alloys in this range in order to avoid cracking. This is a great inconvenience and places an unfortunate restriction on the shape and size or type of component which can be produced in the alloys.

The principal object of the invention is to provide copper rich alloys of certain classes which have desirable physical properties coupled with improved Working characterist-ics, particularly in the hot short range, and this is achieved by the addition of a small amount of zirconium to certain ranges of these alloys. Other objects will appear from a study of the'following description.

It is already known to add a small amount of zirconium to certain types of alloy containing copper and/or nickel and/ or aluminium, together with other elements, for various purposes, for example, to provide improved strength at high temperatures or improved hardness, or improved casting characteristics, but to the best of my knowledge it has not previously been recognised that the addition of a small amount of zirconium Within a certain range produces greatly improved hot ductility in certain classes of these alloys. The improvement in hot ductility enables certain operations, such as rolling, extrusion and hot pressing and drawing, to be carried out to a much greater extent on the new alloys so that their useful range of practical application is extended.

While this improvement in hot ductility may be present to some degree, without having been recognised, in other copper-rich alloy-s, the classes of alloy defined below are those in which desirable physical properties are coupled with a marked improvement in hot ductility as the result of adding a small proportion of zirconium. The classification of the alloy ranges is not a recognised one and has been adopted herein only for the purpose of facilitating the definition and explanation of the invention.

The invention consists of a copper-rich alloy having high ductility in what is normally the hot short range, containing one of the following proportions of copper; about 53.5 to 63.5 percent, about 64 to 79 percent, about 85 to 95 percent; in combination with a proportion of at PC I least two of the elements nickel, iron, manganese, arsenic, zinc, aluminium; and between 0.05 and 0.5 per cent zirconium.

The invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a graph showing a comparison of the hot ductility between samples of a particular alloy with and without the presence of zirconium; and

FIGURE 2 is a graph showing a comparison of the hot ductility between samples of another alloy with and Without the presence of zirconium.

The classes of alloy with which the invention is concerned are as follows:

Name Composition Class 1.Oupro-Nickel Nickel1011%.

Iron0.01-2%. Manganese0.011%. Zirconium--0.05-0.5%. Copper-Remainder (about 85.5-

Class 2.Cupro-Nickel Nickel29-33%.

Iron-0.01-1%.

Manganese0.011.5%.

Copper-Remainder (about 64- Nickel35-37%.

Iron1.02%.

Manganese0.51.5%.

Zirconium0.050.5%.

Copper-Remainder (about 50- Niekel4042%.

Manganese-O.5-2%.

Zirconium0.050.5%.

CopperRemainder (about 53.5-

Glass 3.Cupro-Nicke1 Class 4.Cupro-Nickel Glass 5.Copper-Zine (70/30 Brass).

Copper7073%. Arse11ic0.02-0.l%. Zirconium0.05-0.5%. ZincRemainder (about 26-30%).

Copper7679%. Aluminiu ml.82.5%. Arsenie0.020.1%. Zirconium0.05-0.5%. Zinc-Remainder (about 18-22%).

Class 6.Oopper-Zinc-Aluminium:

(Aluminium Brass).

Class 7 Copper-Aluminium:

(Aluminium Bronze).

Iron0.013.5%.

Zirconium0.050.5%.

Copper-Remainder (about 88- LENGTH or i /AREA AT TEMPERATURES or HOT SHORTNESS Alloy Alloy without Zirconium Alloy containing Zirconium Class 1.90/l0 Cu-Ni Class 2.70/30 Cu-Ni. Class 3.64/36 Cu-Ni. Class 4.-60/40 Cu-Ni. Class 5.70/30 Brass 15% (40 Class 6.Alurninium Brass Class 7.A1uminium Bronze As further examples of the improvement in hot ductility, FIGURE 1 illustrates by two curves the improvement ob- 3 tained in specific alloys of Class 2, with and without zirconium, the composition of the alloys tested being as follows:

Alloy 1, percent Element Alloy 2, percent 0.60 0. 52 Nil 0.12 85 Element Alloy 1, percent Alloy 2, percent Copper Aluminium Remainderto 100. 1

It will be noted that these last alloys contain very small amounts of tin, lead, iron, manganese and nickel. The presence or absence of these trace elements makes no appreciable difference to the properties of the alloys but they are mentioned because they were present in the alloys as tested. It will also be understood that in the specific classes of alloy mentioned earlier trace elements may also be present without appreciably affecting the particular properties.

In Classes 1 to 4 of the alloy-s the addition of iron and manganese con fer improved resistance 'to' corrosion in aqueous media. In Classes 5 and 6 the inclusion of a small amount of arsenic prevents corrosion by dezincification of the alloy structure. In alloys of Class 6 the addition of aluminium provides improved resistance to corrosion in many aqueous and other media. The copper aluminum alloy of this class has good resistance to oxidation and reasonable strength at elevated temperatures, this latter property being further enhanced by the addition of iron. In the Class 7,.alloys larger proportions of both aluminium and iron' are included for the purposes stated.

I claim:

1. A copper-rich alloy having high ductility in what is normally the hot short range, containing about 10 to 11 percent nickel, 0.01 to 2 percent iron, 0.01 to 1 percent manganese, and 0.05 to 0.5 percent zirconium, the balance being copper.

percent nickel, 0.01 to 1 percent iron, 0.01 to 1.5 percent manganese, and 0.05 to 0.5 percent zirconium, the balance being copper.

3. A copper-rich alloy having high ductility in what is normally the hot short range, containing about to 37 percent nickel, 1 to 2 percent iron, 0.5 to 1.5 percent manganese, and 0.05 to 0.5 percent zirconium, the balance being copper.

4. A copper-rich alloy having high ductility in what is normally the hot short range, containing about 40 to 42 percent nickel, 0.5 to 2 percent iron, 0.5 to 2 percent manganese, and 0.05 to 0.5 percent zirconium, the balance being copper.

5. A copper-rich alloy having high ductility in what is normally the hot short range, containing about to 73 1 percent copper, 0.02 to 0.1 percent arsenic, and 0.05 to 0.5

2. A copper-rich alloy having high ductility in what is normally the hot short range, containing about 29 to 33 percent zirconium, the balance being zinc.

6. A copper-rich alloy having high ductility in what is normally the hot short range, containing about 76 to 79 percent copper, 1.8 to 2.5 percent aluminium, 0.02 to 0.1 percent arsenic, and 0.05 to 0.5 percent zirconium, the balance being zinc.

7. A copper-rich alloy having high ductility in what is normally the hot short range, containing about 5 to 8 percent aluminium, 0.01 to 3.5 percent iron, and 0.05 to 0.5 percent zirconium, the balance being copper.

8. A copper-rich alloy having. high ductility in what is normally the hot short range containing about 53.5 to 63.5 percent copper; in combination with a proportion of at least two of the metals from the group consisting of nickel, iron, manganese, arsenic, zinc and aluminium; and between 0.05 and 0.5 percent zirconium.

9. A copper-rich alloy having high ductility in what is normally the hot short range containing about 64 to 79 percent copper; in combination with a proportion of at least two of the metals from the group consisting of nickel, iron, manganese, arsenic, zinc and aluminium; and between 0.05 and 0.5 percent zirconium.

10. A copper-rich alloy having high ductility in what is normally the hot short range containing about to percent copper; in combination with a proportion of at least two of the metals of the group consisting of nickel, iron, manganese, arsenic, zinc and aluminium; and between 0.05 and 0.5 percent zirconium.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,137,281 11/1938 Hensel et al 75-159 2,137,282 11/1938 Hensel et al 75-159 2,161,467 6/1939 Hensel et al. 75157.5 2,270,716 1/ 1942 Morris 75160 2,283,246 5/1942 Wise et al 75170 FOREIGN PATENTS 440,480 12/ 1935 Great Britain.

DAVID L. RECK, Primary Examiner. 

1. A COPPER-RICH ALLOY HAVING HIGH DUCTILITY IN WHAT IS NORMALLY THE HOT SHORT RANGE, CONTAINING ABOUT 10 TO 11 PERCENT NICKEL, 0.01 TO 2 PERCENT IRON, 0.01 TO 1 PERCENT MANGANESE, AND 0.05 TO 0.5 PERCENT ZIRCONIUM, THE BALANCE BEING COPPER. 